Two important national events had a tremendous affect on Henderson County.
In 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment prohibiting the manufacture or sale of alcoholic beverages was enacted by Congress. This caused huge changes in the county. Many people earned income making and selling whiskey. They either continued to make the whiskey illegally or lost a source of income. The 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment in 1933, but restrictions on the manufacture and sale of alcohol were still extensive.
In 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was approved, giving women the right to vote in elections. For the first time, women in the county could now vote.
It was in 1926 that East Flat Rock incorporated as a town. The town was a municipality until 1950, when residents voted to dissolve the incorporation. It became the second incorporated town in Henderson County, after Hendersonville. Historically it was the third, after Saluda. But Saluda was annexed to Polk County in 1903.
Hendersonville built a new City Hall in 1928 at its current location.

The county again followed the national trend in Presidential elections, but the state always went Democrat except in 1928 went the state went Republican for Hoover.
The majority of the county’s residents voted for Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover.

From 1920 to 1930 all senators to the U.S. Congress from North Carolina were Democrats. None were from Henderson County.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, none were from Henderson County.
All the governors were Democratic from 1920 to 1930. None were from Henderson County.

All state senators in the General Assembly were Democrats. Two were from Henderson County.

1. Robert Marcus Oates, D (1869-1922) Oates was elected in 1921. He was born in Mecklenburg County. He was founder of a textile mill in Charlotte and president of Grey Hosiery Mill in Hendersonville. He was the founder and owner of Blue Ridge Power and Light Co. that later became the Hendersonville Power and Light Co. This company built the No. 2 power dam on the Big Hungry River. He died in Hendersonville. His grave site is in Charlotte.
2. Robert Lee Whitmire Sr., D (1898-1970) Whitmire was elected in 1927. He was born in Transylvania County. He was a lawyer and moved to Hendersonville where he opened a law office. He was a state delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1924. His grave site is at Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville.

Henderson County had its own representative in the State House. Three were Republicans and one was a Democrat.
1. Richard C. Clarke, R (1877-1949) Clarke was elected in 1921. He was a native of Pennsylvania. The Clarke House is at 514 Fifth Ave. W. He was a banker and president of the Bank and Trust Co. and also a developer. His grave site is at Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville.
2. Carroll Pickens Rogers, D (1880-1968) Rogers was elected in 1923. He was born in South Carolina. He owned the first textile mill in the county at East Flat Rock (Skyland Hosiery became Chipman-Lacrosse). He later moved to Polk County where he opened a textile mill. He died in Tryon and is buried at the Tryon City Cemetery.
3. Wade H. Whiteside, R (1870-1949) Whiteside was elected in 1925. He was born in Gaston County, but the family moved to Chimney Rock in Rutherford County when he was a young child. He lived in the Chimney Rock area until moving to Mills River prior to 1920. He was a farmer and also a county commissioner. He died in Henderson County, but is buried at Green Hills Cemetery in Buncombe County.
4. Francis S. Wetmur, R (1869-1956) Wetmur was elected in 1927 and 1929. He was a native of Minnesota. He moved to Henderson County prior to 1910. He owned the first Ford dealership in town. He was actively involved in the Kiwanis Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the first Merchants Association. He owned the Stillwell house on Pinecrest Drive. By 1930 he had moved to Asheville. He later left the area, and died in Iowa.

There were four mayors during this time period for the city of Hendersonville.
1. Jesse Mack Rhodes (1881-1955) – Mayor: 1919-1923. He was born in the Mills River community, the son of Jesse Sherrill Rhodes (state legislator and sheriff) and Frances Arminta Morris Rhodes. He married Ora May Knight. He was a banker and bank president. He died in Fort Worth, Texas. His grave site is at Laurel Land Memorial Park in Fort Worth, Texas.
2. Samuel Young Bryson (1877-1925) – Mayor: 1923-1925. He was born in Henderson County, the son of Joseph A. Bryson and Sarah Taylor Bryson (daughter of Terrell W. Taylor, sheriff and legislator). He was appointed postmaster of Hendersonville in 1914 and 1919. He was a mechanical engineer, and owned the Star Dray Co. and the Carolina Oil and Supply Co. He had also served as the city tax collector. His grave is at Oakdale Cemetery.
3. John Terrell Wilkins (1878-1948) – Mayor: 1925-1929. He was born in Cowpens, South Carolina. He first married Mary Elizabeth Smith, and after her death married Emily Shelar. He moved to Hendersonville between 1900 and 1910 and owned a wholesale grocery. By 1920 he was a teacher at the high school. In 1930, he was an insurance agent and later manager of an insurance agency. His grave site is at Oakdale Cemetery.
4. William McDowell Sherard (1869-1956) – Mayor: 1929-1932. He was born in Anderson, South Carolina. He married Grace Cochran in South Carolina. He moved to Hendersonville from Newberry, S.C., after 1920. He was a banker, realtor, a dealer in stocks and bonds, and involved in management with some of the textile mills. He was the president of the first Southern Textile Exposition held in the South. He died in Hendersonville, but is buried in his hometown of Anderson, S.C.